The major purpose of this proposed research shall be to investigate the efficacy of differential treatment approaches for ameliorating the attentional deficits in hyperactive children. The treatment approaches to be implemented and evaluated include methylphenidate therapy and an adjunctive attentional training procedure designed to increase attention and inhibitory control. Thus, the specific treatment procedures to be investigated are: methylphenidate therapy alone, methylphenidate therapy combined with attentional training, methylphenidate therapy combined with an attentional training control condition, placebo with an attentional training condition, placebo with an attentional control training condition, and a placebo only, control condition studied alone without any attentional training. Each of the treatment modalities (methylphenidate therapy and attentional training) will be examined alone and in combination with the other treatment. Interactions among each of these independent variables will be examined. It is predicted that a combined treatment procedure of methylphenidate therapy and attentional training will be successful in ameliorating the attentional deficits that are so pervasive in the clinical descriptions of hyperkinetic children. It is further predicted that enhanced attentional deployment performance will result in correlated academic performance. Thus, another purpose of this proposed research is to provide practitioners with information as to the best treatment approach available for arresting the attentional deficits that are so debilitating to the academic progress of hyperactive children. The proposed research offers an inherently more sophisticated experimental design than over previous research efforts which have attempted to systematically examine the relative efficacy of methylphenidate and combined training in the treatment of hyperactive children. Thus, the general objective of the research proposed here is to identify the most effective approach for the mediation of attentional deficits and the regulation of impulse control in children diagnosed with the attentional deficit disorder. The proposed research has implications for mental health in that procedures which have the potential to increase achievement and feelings of competence also have the potential to prevent the development of mental health problems. Since the child's positive feelings about himself and the world are concommitants of his ability to learn effectively, mediation of attentional deficits has important implications for mental health.